Rogers Scholars: Follow your dreams

Lindsey Wilson College president Dr. William “Bill” Luckey Jr. encouraged Rogers Scholars to follow their dreams and build their careers right here in Southern and Eastern Kentucky.

“Dr. Luckey’s speech was very motivational,” said Rogers Scholar Caleb Wigginton, a junior at Taylor County High School. “My mind was opened as he spoke about the freedom we have to become anything we want to be, despite our origins. Dr. Luckey encouraged us to ‘to grow where we are planted,’ and that’s what I intend to do.”

Dr. Luckey, who took over as the eighth president of Lindsey Wilson College in 1997, spoke to the second and final summer class of the 2012 Rogers Scholars on Wednesday at The Center for Rural Development in Somerset.

He came to Lindsey Wilson College, a private liberal arts college in Columbia, Ky., in 1983 to work in the college’s admissions office. He later worked his up to director of admissions, vice president for enrollment management, vice president for development, and then vice president for administration and finance before he was named college president.

“Dr. Luckey thought he had his future planned out for himself, but he realized he was not following his dreams,” Wigginton said. “His plans were changed and he said he would not trade his life for any other life scenario.”

Besides his work at Lindsey Wilson College, Dr. Luckey serves on The Center’s Executive Committee of its board of directors.

Later that evening, Rogers Scholars traveled to Monticello in Wayne County to complete a community service project. Scholars picked up trash and debris along the shores of Lake Cumberland near the Conley Bottom Resort Marina.

On Thursday, Scholars will continue working in one of three declared majors—healthcare, engineering, and video production—and will break for lunch to hear a presentation by University of Kentucky’s newest president Dr. Eli Capilouto.

Dr. Capilouto, a native of Montgomery, Ala., became the 12th president of the University of Kentucky on July 1, 2011. He previously served as provost of the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) and dean of the UAB School of Public Health.